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DMA Engineers celebrates 50 years

Thank you to our clients and partners who helped us celebrate a very special milestone in our history – 50-years of DMA. It was a great opportunity to look back...

DMA returns to Townsville University Hospital

After working on the design and delivery of the Townsville University Hospital Redevelopment from 2009 – 2017, we’re excited to be back on site as part of the Cox Architecture…

Have your company water bills increased? It might be time to get your water meter audited.

In 2021, Urban Utilities and the City of Gold Coast introduced new ‘Simpler Pricing’ models* for water and sewerage meter services for their non-residential customer. They stated that their reason…

We’re delivering some magical brewery hydraulic design!

Something Magic is brewing in East Brisbane! It doesn’t look like much now, but this East Brisbane location will be transformed into the home of Brisbane’s newest brewing company, Future…

Feels like home: Re-imagining aged care in a post pandemic era

Ways of designing aged care that feels like home and can better meet people’s needs in a future pandemic was the challenge set to designers, innovators, planners and progressive providers…

What does the new NCC Clause A2.2(4) mean for your building’s fire safety engineering design?

In Australia in February 2018, the Building Confidence Report was released. The report highlighted the lack of clear guidance for performance solutions in the existing National Construction Code (NCC). Processes…

Meet our 2021 Longevity by Design Event Partners

DMA Engineers and the University of Queensland Healthy Ageing Initiative are thrilled to welcome three event partners on board for our 2021 Longevity by Design charrette. This year, the theme of the…

VIDEO: Reduce drain blockages with vacuum drainage.

Can drainage go uphill without causing blockages? It sure can! Recently our Hydraulic design team visited a vacuum drainage manufacturer and Rory O’Malley took this video to demonstrate how it works….

Longevity by Design returns in 2021!

DMA Engineers and the University of Queensland Healthy Ageing Initiative are thrilled to be bringing back our industry-wide collaborative workshop Longevity by Design in 2021. In 2021, participants will again be invited to…

Selecting light fittings for your next project? Check the LLMF for longer term savings.

Selecting lighting fixtures for construction projects can be a complex task. The number of product choices in the market is constantly increasing, but comparing these products is rarely just a…

Copper vs Aluminium cables: which is best for electrical installations?

By Clyde Pellew, Principal Electrical Engineer Humans first started using copper some 10,000 years ago. For a long time it was the only known and used metal, and after its…

Longevity by Design wins Future of Ageing Award

Longevity by Design, the charrette co-founded by DMA Engineers and the University of Queensland Healthy Ageing Initiative to challenge the future of Senior Living Design, has won the 2020 Future…

Longevity by Design named as finalist in Future of Ageing Awards

DMA Engineers, together with our founding partner The University of Queensland Healthy Ageing Initiative, have been named a finalist in the research category of the 2020 Future of Ageing Awards…

Landlords: are your residential developments meeting Queensland’s smoke alarm legislation?

By Clyde Pellew, Principal Electrical Engineer Just before midnight on August 2011, a fire started on the ground floor of a house in Slacks Creek on Brisbane’s southside. It would…

Connectedness and sharing key to longevity as we age.

By Russell Lamb  This post first appeared in Leading Age Services Australia (LASA) FUSION magazine in July 2020. To view the original article, click here: Click here to read (head…

Energy Efficiency: does your building comply with NCC 2019 Part J?

Did you know that all new developments must now meet the energy efficiency requirements of NCC 2019 Part J? The aim of NCC is to use less energy for heating,…

DMA Engineers to help kids keep cool at 28 Queensland schools

We’ll be helping Queensland kids keep cool after they get back to school! ❄️ As part of the Queensland Government’s Cooler Cleaner Schools Program (CSSP), our Electrical team will soon…

Industry-wide charrette seeks to create innovative and visionary ideas for the future of senior living design

Changing our assumptions of ‘sixtyfive-ism’ and how we design communities and buildings for life in later years is the focus of a unique design challenge being held at The University…

DMA Engineers commence building services design work for Caboolture Hospital Redevelopment Stage 1

Caboolture Hospital is getting an upgrade and we’re excited to be part of the team delivering it! Caboolture is a rapidly growing area of South East Queensland, with a population…

Mater Private Hospital Air Handling Unit Upgrade Wins 2019 AIRAH Award

DMA Engineers and VAE Group won the Best  HVAC Retroft or Upgrade Project Award at the 2019 AIRAH Awards in Sydney last night for the he Mater Private Hospital Air...

Insights from the Queensland Safer Buildings Checklist Part 3 industry breakfast

Last week DMA Engineers and McCullough Robertson hosted a joint industry breakfast event to provide a forum for discussion about the next stage of the Queensland Safer Buildings checklist. The…

Mater Private Air Handling Unit Upgrade named as finalist in 2019 AIRAH Best HVAC Retrofit or Upgrade Award

DMA Engineers and VAE Group have been named as a finalist in the 2019 AIRAH Award for Best HVAC Retrofit or Upgrade. The award recognises excellence in the retrofit or…

Safer Buildings Part 3: DMA and McCullough Robertson to host industry breakfast

BRISBANE EVENT. With the new Queensland fire cladding legislation set to come into effect in early 2019, DMA and McCullough Roberson Lawyers will be hosting an interactive breakfast event on…

Combustible Cladding Crisis – No financial support from Queensland Government

By Koroush Keshavarz – Senior Associate, Principal Fire Engineer. Combustible cladding is no laughing matter. The dangers of highly flammable cladding were brought to the world’s attention when Grenfell Tower…

4 tips for hydraulics designs that will meet your building’s green goals (without breaking the bank)

By Rory O’Malley – Hydraulic Principal. A couple of weeks ago our hydraulic services team and the Sundale Garden Village project were awarded the 2019 Plumbing & Gas Industry Awards…

Combustible Cladding Audit – What does Stage 3 involve?

The final deadline for eligible building owners in Queensland to organise a combustible cladding audit has passed. We now enter Stage 3 of the process. Learn more about the process…

A Quick Guide To Queensland’s New Plumbing and Drainage Laws

By Dean Carter – Hydraulic Designer The Queensland Government has passed some new laws relating to plumbing and drainage. Queensland’s plumbers and drainers, builders, developers, local governments, water service providers…

DMA named Hydraulic Consultant of the Year for Sundale Garden Village

We knew they were pretty good, and now we’ve got the evidence! At the 2019 MPAQ Plumbing and Gas Industry Awards on Friday night, DMA’s Hydraulics team won the AHSCA…

The QBCC Cladding Assessment: Everything you need to know.

The QBCC cladding assessment is an initiative designed to assist building owners and property managers deliver on their obligations under new legislation introduced on October 1st, 2018. It has received…

How to do a basic building fire safety risk assessment

A building fire safety risk assessment is an essential process that will occur at least once, if not multiple times, in the lifetime of any large building. Whether commercial, residential…

The revision to sprinkler standard AS2118.1-2017: What does it cover….and what does it mean?

By Koroush Keshavarz – Principal Fire Engineer The new revision of the sprinkler standard has finally been adopted by the Building Code of Australia. The NCC 2019 Building Code of…

Safer Buildings deadlines for combustible cladding extended for building owners

It was announced yesterday that the Queensland Government will provide an extension to the compliance period for Part 2 and Part 3a of its Safer Buildings checklist for combustible cladding….

Councils crack down on approvals for temporary building site structures and amenities

By Rory O’Malley – Hydraulic Principal Recently we’ve been informed that Queensland Building & Construction Commission (QBCC) and local council authorities are cracking down in their enforcement of rules relating…

Looking to add additional utility metering to your multi-tenant retail facility? Answer these 4 questions first.

By Shawn Sellick – Principal Mechanical Engineer. As building services engineers, we’re often asked by clients to incorporate additional utility meters (over and above the standard authority meters) into multi-tenant retail…

DMA to host Philip Halton, Deputy Commissioner of QBCC, for Fire Cladding Event

BRISBANE EVENT. With the new Queensland fire cladding legislation set to come into effect in early 2019, DMA will be hosting an event on 13 December 2018 to help answer…

DMA launches free reviews of hydraulics design documents for a limited time

We know how hard it can be as a plumbing contractor to find the time to properly review the design documents you receive from your consultants on D&C jobs. But…

How to make future design provisions for solar installations: a case study for architects

By Duncan Stegmann – Electrical Engineer.   Like many technological developments, solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has matured a lot over the years and is now more affordable and accessible than…

How to sell an aged care bed: an interview with Jordan Fitzgerald from Marketplace Strategy Solutions

By Nicholas Danicic – Electrical Engineer.   “The target market is the sons, daughters and families of the potential residents. Very few elderly people self-admit into aged care and that…

Senior Living Innovation Event: what do seniors want now and in the future?

BRISBANE EVENT. What do seniors in Australia truly want from their living environments? This is a question that those of us who work in the built environment and construction sector…

Why you need up-to-date building services plans for your buildings.

By Andrew White – Director. When we’re engaged to work on a redevelopment, expansion or refurbishment project, one of the first things we do is go hunting for up-to-date copies…

3 steps to avoiding building services issues in leasing agreements

By Shawn Sellick – Principal Mechanical Engineer. I recently worked with a leasing agent who had signed a new tenant to a building lease only to discover that the installed…

4 ways energy modelling can help reduce construction costs

By Matthew Lacey – Mechanical Engineer. With rising material costs and a shortage of skilled labour, it’s no surprise that construction costs for commercial and other buildings across Australia are…

Tackling Legionella: How to assess and minimise your risk

By Rory O'Malley - Hydraulic Principal/Senior Hydraulic Designer. I recently heard of some health care facilities in Australia that are removing their drinking water fountains and supplying their patients and...

Communications Technology in Aged Care

By Grant Steinback - Electrical Building Services Specialist. When undertaking an aged care development or redevelopment, deciding what communications technology to incorporate during the planning phase can be overwhelming. With...

Was external cladding to blame?

By Koroush Keshavarz - Senior Associate-Principal Fire Engineer. With so many lives lost in the recent Grenfell Tower fire, serious questions are beginning to be asked of the building management...